It is described in US 2005/0054886 A that 4-methyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzyl alcohol is useful as a synthetic intermediate of pesticides, and as the process for producing it, a process comprising five steps of fluorination, hydrogenation, diazotization followed by decomposition, halogenation and hydrogenation, using 2,3,5,6-tetrachloroterephthalonitrile as a starting material is described therein.
Alternatively, in CN 1458137 A, a process for producing 4-methyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzyl alcohol comprising five steps of fluorination, esterification, reduction, bromination and hydrogenation, using 2,3,5,6-tetrachloroterephthaloyl dichloride as a starting material is described.